Inception: Beginning a New Conversation about Communication Pedagogy and Scholarship

Drawing on past pedagogical and scholarly lines of inquiry, this article advances—in a dialogic form—several questions for future research and practice in areas of communication, teaching, and learning. The dialogic form of this article offers a metamessage, inviting colleagues to consider creative approaches to inquiry and collaboration in the 21st century. The ideas and questions presented in this essay serve to push the field beyond disciplinary silos, advance research and pedagogy about teaching and learning, and offer thought-provoking insight into what scholars and practitioners who explore communication, teaching, and learning can contribute to those inside and outside of our discipline

The IDEA Model as a Conceptual Framework for Designing Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) Messages Distributed via Mobile Phone Apps

Short response time available in the event of a major earthquake poses unique challenges for earthquake early warning (EEW). Mobile phone apps may be one way to deliver such messages effectively. In this two-phase study, several hundred participants were first randomly assigned to one of eight experimental conditions. Results of phase one afforded researchers the ability to reduce the number of conditions to four. Phase two consisted of five experimental conditions. In each condition, a 10 second EEW was delivered via a phone app. The four treatment conditions were designed according to elements of the IDEA model. The control condition was based on the actual ShakeAlert EEW computer program message being used by emergency managers across the US west coast at the time. Results of this experiment revealed that EEW messages designed according to the IDEA model were more effective in producing desired learning outcomes than the ShakeAlert control message. Thus, the IDEA model may provide an effective content framework for those choosing to develop such apps for EEW

Context and Considerations for the Development of Community-Informed Health Communication Messaging to Support Equitable Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccines Among Communities of Color in Washington, DC.

BACKGROUND: Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. We explored barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 vaccine uptake among African American, Latinx, and African immigrant communities in Washington, DC. METHODS: A total of 76 individuals participated in qualitative interviews and focus groups, and 208 individuals from communities of color participated in an online crowdsourcing contest. RESULTS: Findings documented a lack of sufficient, accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines and questions about the science. African American and African immigrant participants spoke about the deeply rooted historical underpinnings to their community\u27s vaccine hesitancy, citing the prior and ongoing mistreatment of people of color by the medical community. Latinx and African immigrant participants highlighted how limited accessibility played an important role in the slow uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in their communities. Connectedness and solidarity found were found to be key assets that can be drawn upon through community-driven responses to address social-structural challenges to COVID-19 related vaccine uptake. CONCLUSIONS: The historic and ongoing socio-economic context and realities of communities of color must be understood and respected to inform community-based health communication messaging to support vaccine equity for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases

Fourteen Recommendations to Create a More Inclusive Environment for LGBTQ+ Individuals in Academic Biology

Individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and otherwise non-straight and/or non-cisgender (LGBTQ+) have often not felt welcome or represented in the biology community. Additionally, biology can present unique challenges for LGBTQ+ students because of the relationship between certain biology topics and their LGBTQ+ identities. Currently, there is no centralized set of guidelines to make biology learning environments more inclusive for LGBTQ+ individuals. Rooted in prior literature and the collective expertise of the authors who identify as members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community, we present a set of actionable recommendations to help biologists, biology educators, and biology education researchers be more inclusive of individuals with LGBTQ+ identities. These recommendations are intended to increase awareness of LGBTQ+ identities and spark conversations about transforming biology learning spaces and the broader academic biology community to become more inclusive of LGBTQ+ individuals

Association of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid viral antigen and the receptor for advanced glycation end products with development of severe disease in patients presenting to the emergency department with COVID-19

IntroductionThere remains a need to better identify patients at highest risk for developing severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as additional waves of the pandemic continue to impact hospital systems. We sought to characterize the association of receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid viral antigen, and a panel of thromboinflammatory biomarkers with development of severe disease in patients presenting to the emergency department with symptomatic COVID-19.MethodsBlood samples were collected on arrival from 77 patients with symptomatic COVID-19, and plasma levels of thromboinflammatory biomarkers were measured.ResultsDifferences in biomarkers between those who did and did not develop severe disease or death 7 days after presentation were analyzed. After adjustment for multiple comparisons, RAGE, SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid viral antigen, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR)-1 were significantly elevated in the group who developed severe disease (all p<0.05). In a multivariable regression model, RAGE and SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid viral antigen remained significant risk factors for development of severe disease (both p<0.05), and each had sensitivity and specificity >80% on cut-point analysis.DiscussionElevated RAGE and SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid viral antigen on emergency department presentation are strongly associated with development of severe disease at 7 days. These findings are of clinical relevance for patient prognostication and triage as hospital systems continue to be overwhelmed. Further studies are warranted to determine the feasibility and utility of point-of care measurements of these biomarkers in the emergency department setting to improve patient prognostication and triage

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Exploring impacts on students as givers of teaching feedback

Purpose: Feedback is usually given for the primary benefit of the feedback recipient and often involves the unidirectional delivery of information. The purpose of this paper is to reverse this emphasis and examines the impacts on students of giving feedback to staff as an ongoing dialogue in the delivery of a teaching unit.Design/methodology/approach: This novel study uses surveys and focus groups for an in-depth case study of the impact of students giving feedback to staff. It examines different aspects of students’ experiences related to their sense of being supported and valued, together with issues of relevance, timeliness and the actionability of feedback.Findings: Results show that the regular giving of feedback by students and their subsequent academic actions can help increase students’ sense of being supported and valued. The strongest correlations occurred between the responses of those who felt valued and supported and their perception that their own feedback was acted upon during the semester. There is also some evidence suggesting that students felt valued when observing that other students’ feedback was acted upon either immediately or in the future.Research limitations/implications: The single case study approach to this research means that only one cohort of students was tested. Research on further cohorts would help to validate the findings.Practical implications: This study could have implications for teaching quality and practice in better directing, communicating, engaging and following up on student feedback.Originality/value: Whilst the benefit to the staff of student feedback is well documented, there is little evidence documenting benefits to students. This study addresses this gap in existing research

The Idea Model As A Best Practice For Effective Instructional Risk And Crisis Communication

This study presents the IDEA (internalization, distribution, explanation, action) model as an easy-to-use and situationally generalizable framework for quickly developing effective messages instructing people on how to protect themselves before and during high-risk events, crises, disasters, and other emergencies. The model consists of four elements: helping message recipients internalize the potential impact of the risk or crisis event, identifying appropriate channels and strategies for distributing the risk or crisis event messages, offering a brief and intelligible explanation of the nature of the risk or crisis, and providing specific self-protective action steps for people to take. The model may be used to design messages in any risk, crisis, or emergency context. Through a posttest-only quasi-experimental cross-sectional research experiment, this study measured the perceived message effectiveness, cognitive understanding, and behavioral intentions of those viewing a television news story about a crisis situation employing the IDEA model compared to those viewing a similar story replicating typical crisis event news stories delivered to general publics. This comparative examination revealed that the message designed according to the IDEA model was significantly more effective than the status quo message and resulted in greater behavioral intentions to engage in appropriate self-protective actions in the event of an acute risk or crisis situation. Strategies for implementing the model are also provided